About ninety percent of Indian consumers are concerned about food inflation while buying snacks, and yet over 80% are worried about their availability in stores too, a new study found.

Still, they would rather buy fewer of their favourite snack brands than the lower priced generic alternative, according to an international survey by Mondelez International and The Harris Poll which covered consumers across 13 countries.

“This year’s report rightfully captures how Indian consumers view snacking to build connections or steal small moments of indulgence in their lives. While intuitive snacking is on the rise, it is interesting to note that conscious consumers aren’t a monolith, but are reframing indulgences to feel more permissible,” said Nitin Saini, vice-president – marketing, Mondelez India.

For Indians, snacking is a daily staple as 76% of people in the country snacking at least twice a day. In fact, early morning snacking is quite common with 42% of Indian consumers eating a snack before breakfast, compared to just 24% of global consumers.

About 86% of consumers report prices of foods to make meals hurting their pocketbooks more than snacks, but they will go out of their way to find their favourite snack, and 82% would pay extra to bring back some of their favourite childhood snack brands, according to the State of Snacking report 2022.

Digital channels are also helping consumers do their homework, as 88% either have or would research a snack online before buying it, especially millennials at 94%, study found.

While snacking benefited during the pandemic, and even after the economy opened up, the segment’s growth kept pace, until a few months ago.Monthly growth of snacking was 6.9% in January this year, falling from 13.4% in Feb 2022, ending a near three-year run, according to the latest Kantar report. About 90% of the Indian population consumed biscuits and cookies at least once in the entire year, making it the most widely consumed category of the year.

However, salty snacks were bought on 1.2 billion distinct shopping occasions nationwide, more than any other category. These two categories also have the highest number of brands purchased in the year. The third category in the snacking trinity, chocolates, was the category where the out-of-home shopper spent the most – Rs 5400 crore, contributing over a quarter of all out-of-home spends, followed closely by biscuits at 23%, as per Kantar.